''Bless Its Pointed Little Head'' is a live album by

Jefferson Airplane Jefferson Airplane was an American Rock music, rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1965. One of the pioneering bands of psychedelic rock, the group defined the San Francisco Sound and was the first from the San Francisco Bay Area, ...

recorded at both the

Fillmore East The Fillmore East was Promoter (entertainment), rock promoter Bill Graham (promoter), Bill Graham's rock venue on Second Avenue (Manhattan), Second Avenue near 6th Street (Manhattan), East 6th Street on the Lower East Side section of Manhattan, ...

and

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

in the fall of 1968 and released in 1969 as RCA Victor LSP-4133. The album reached #17 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' Top LP's chart in March 1969. The tracks were recorded during the tour supporting '' Crown of Creation'', although no songs from that album or its predecessor '' After Bathing at Baxter's'' were included (however, the CD rerelease contains bonus tracks of several selections from ''After Bathing at Baxter's''). Selections were taken from the band's first two albums and a number of covers that had been in their setlist since 1965-66 but not recorded in the studio. One of these, "Fat Angel", had been written by

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter and record producer. He emerged from the British folk scene in early 1965 and subsequently scored multiple international hit singles ...

in the spring of 1966 and namechecked the band, who were unknown outside the Bay Area at the time; for Jefferson Airplane's version,

Marty Balin Martyn Jerel Buchwald (January 30, 1942 – September 27, 2018), known as Marty Balin (), was an American singer, songwriter, and musician best known as a member of Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship. Early life Balin was born Martyn Je ...

played bass, allowing Jack Casady to switch to guitar.

Fred Neil Fred Neil (born Frederick Ralph Morlock Jr.; March 16, 1936 – July 7, 2001) was an American folk singer-songwriter active in the 1960s and early 1970s. He is mainly known through other people's recordings of his material – particularl ...

's "The Other Side of This Life" is believed to have been in the setlist from Jefferson Airplane's first performance at

The Matrix ''The Matrix'' is a 1999 science fiction film, science fiction action film written and directed by the Wachowskis. It is the first installment in the The Matrix (franchise), ''Matrix'' film series, starring Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Ca ...

in August 1965.

Jorma Kaukonen Jorma Ludwik Kaukonen Jr. (; ; born December 23, 1940) is an American blues, folk, and rock guitarist. Kaukonen performed with Jefferson Airplane, and still performs regularly on tour with Hot Tuna, which started as a side project with bassist ...

showcased his blues roots with a slow, heavy cover of the traditional " Rock Me Baby", a song that had been played by the band as early as 1966. Of the remaining selections, "Clergy" was an audio excerpt from the film ''

King Kong King Kong, also referred to simply as Kong, is a fictional giant monster resembling a gorilla, who has appeared in various media since 1933. The character has since become an international pop culture icon,Erb, Cynthia, 1998, ''Tracking Kin ...

'' that was used to introduce the band at their Fillmore shows, while "Turn Down the Lights" was a short, improvised number instructing the lighting crew to do its title's bidding. The closing "Bear Melt" had developed from a lengthy instrumental jam titled "Thing" that had evolved on stage through the years, now featuring an improvised vocal intro by

Grace Slick Grace Slick (born Grace Barnett Wing; October 30, 1939) is an American painter and retired musician whose musical career spanned four decades. She was a prominent figure in San Francisco's psychedelic music scene during the mid-1960s to the earl ...

. A version of "Thing" without Slick's vocal contribution can be heard on the archival release '' Live at the Fillmore East'', taken from the group's May 1968 shows at the venue. Many of Jefferson Airplane's recordings on the live album were longer than their studio performances, featuring greater use of improvisation, and most were played at a considerably higher speed. The performance emphasized the band's freewheeling, ping-pong vocal harmonies and revealed a harder-rocking group. Guitar and bass lines were deeper in their construction, forming complex instrumentals. Some of the band's hit singles, such as "

White Rabbit The White Rabbit is a fictional and anthropomorphic character in Lewis Carroll's 1865 book ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''. He appears at the very beginning of the book, in chapter one, wearing a waistcoat, and muttering "Oh dear! Oh dea ...

", were not included, although a dramatically rearranged " Somebody to Love" appears. The album revealed a different focus in the sound of the band's live concerts compared to that of their studio work. ''Bless Its Pointed Little Head'' received mixed reviews upon release although in the booklet to the box set '' Jefferson Airplane Loves You'', it is noted as the only Jefferson Airplane album that all of the band members remembered with superlatives. "Plastic Fantastic Lover", which had become considerably funky compared to the studio recording, was released as a single in May 1969; while it failed to chart, it received positive reviews. ''Billboard'' described the single as "heavy hard rock" while ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' wrote that it "features the team's more commercial-than-controversial style" and has "a solid instrumental track and very fine vocal." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' wrote that the song was one of the band's favorites.

Track listing

On the back cover of the LP (RCA LSP-4133), "3/5 of a Mile in 10 Seconds" is identified as "3/5's Of a Mile in 10 Seconds". "Clergy" contains an extract from the soundtrack of the 1933 film ''

''.

Personnel

;Jefferson Airplane *

– vocals, bass on "Fat Angel" * Jack Casady – bass, rhythm guitar on "Fat Angel" * Spencer Dryden – drums *

Paul Kantner Paul Lorin Kantner (March 17, 1941 – January 28, 2016) was an American rock musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and a secondary vocalist of Jefferson Airplane, a leading psychedelic rock band of the counterculture of ...

– vocals, rhythm guitar, second lead guitar on "Fat Angel" *

– lead guitar, vocals *

– vocals ;Production *

Al Schmitt Albert Harry Schmitt (April 17, 1930 – April 26, 2021) was an American recording engineer and record producer. He won twenty Grammy Awards for his work with Henry Mancini, Steely Dan, George Benson, Toto (band), Toto, Natalie Cole, Quincy Jone ...

– producer *Rich Schmitt – engineer *Pat Ieraci – beret *Jim Smircich – cover photography *Bill Thompson – poster *Gary Blackman – art direction

Charts

General references

References

{{Authority control 1969 live albums Albums produced by Al Schmitt Jefferson Airplane live albums Albums recorded at the Fillmore Albums recorded at the Fillmore East RCA Victor live albums Acid rock albums